Golden Second Chances
by Tremalkinger
Summary: [Mai Otome] Sometimes, the smallest twist of fate can give us a golden second chance, when our destiny was thought sealed. NinaErstin.
1. Sun's Requiem

Author's Note: Ever since I finished watching episode seventeen, I couldn't help but feel that, while Erstin's death was well done, I really wished she had survived. I wondered what effects would she have on Arika and Nina as the end approached. In my musings, I eventually ended up with something that evolved into this story. This story dedicated to all of the Erstin fans who wish she could have been something more.

**Golden Second Chances**

_Chapter One: Sun's Requiem_

"Miss Erstin!"

Smith enunciated each syllable of her name with disgusting relish, reveling in his control.

"Now is the time to prove your loyalty! To prove your faith to your high, mighty and omnipotent God!"

The sound of his voice hung in the air, sealing her doom. She clutched a hand to her chest, her bottom lip trembling. Her heart felt like it was pulling itself in twain. In the past, even through all her uncertainty, she had always felt as though she was only doing what was right. It was what she must do to make people happy. How could it _not _be a kindness to give the miracles of Garderobe's technology back to everyone?

But everything was going wrong... it was all happening too fast. Arika wouldn't have a chance to understand. All she had ever heard about Swartz's goals and motives was Garderobe's propaganda; Erstin could only guess what effect this kind of revelation had on her. She painfully raised her eyes, forcing herself to look at Arika. Her pink-clad friend stood frozen in a half turn, her expression full of incomprehension. The tears spilled from Erstin's eyes, but she didn't bother trying to stop them. "I'm sorry, Arika-chan." she apologized miserably, the wet droplets tumbling down her flushed cheeks. Her clenched hand came unfurled, revealing a glowing Slave crystal, pulsating a malicious purple aura.

"No... You're kidding me, right?" Arika denied. "Ers-chan!"

"It's no use." Smith haughtily interjected in that abrasive voice of his. "She's the daughter from our loyal Ho family. She's been receiving training since birth."

_'Training since birth.' _The phrase rang in her ears. It wasn't like that... Smith made it sound like she had been brainwashed. The blond sank to her knees, crumbling under the crushing pressure of Smith's gaze. She wanted to deny, to tell him he was wrong, to tell him that she did this because she _wanted_ to... in order to help the world. Most of all, she needed Arika to understand, wanting so badly that it hurt. But the words wouldn't come, and she couldn't delay any longer. "Under the contract of darkness, to fulfill my oath, ancient light, knowing and wise God, grant me a loyal servant." As she breathed the final sound of her incantation, a spray of glorious , golden light erupted from the ground under her fingertips, spreading into a huge glowing sigil around her. A monstrous being of molten yellow metal and cold steel erupted from the ground, coming to rest obediently behind her.

"Ers-chan!" Arika's pupils had contracted to a fraction of their normal size, her face echoing shock and betrayal to a degree beyond expression.

She knew how it looked. Yukariko-sensei had often told them terrible stories about what Swartz and the Slaves had done countless times in the past, to Windbloom and other countries. Arika had a simple way of looking at things, and she had always looked at Swartz as the enemy, and nothing else. Erstin tried to steel herself for a fight with Arika, but the thought made her feel sick. Even still, she wouldn't be allowed to release her Slave until Smith had what he wanted. "Please, give Mashiro-sama to me!" she requested desperately. "That way..."

"You know I can't!" Arika rejected with panic entering her voice, dodging a stray attack from the overeager Slave. "Ers-chan, why are you doing this?"

"It was decided a long time ago." Erstin answered with a defeated tone. The Slave was calling to her, trying to draw off her life force to power its assault against Arika, but she refused, leaving its attacks impotent as she tried to explain. "My father, my mother, my grandfather, my grandmother, all of them have always..." she trailed off, her voice strained to the breaking point. She _had_ to make Arika understand. "Didn't you say so yourself? If people had this technology, everyone will be happy." She clenched her eyes tight, feeling the warm tears spilling down her face. "There won't be anymore... wars..." Those were the words of the dark men in cloaks who had taught her. It had all sounded so wonderful when she had first heard it, but now, even to her own ears, it sounded hollow and impossible. She wiped at the tears. She had been trained for this her whole life. She had been a bad Otome, and an even worse daughter before that. At this final, her most critical moment, she could not let herself falter. Her eyes opened violently, her voice bursting with newfound determination. "That's why..."

Her Slave fed off her surge of emotions, swinging again with renewed force. Arika easily sidestepped the attack, and retaliated several times. Each blow echoed through the bond into Erstin, her own body shuddering under the brutal impacts, and she cried out from the pain.

"Ers-chan!" Arika landed behind her, her voice confused and concerned at the same time.

"A Slave and its Lord is the same as an Otome and her Master. If the Slave is attacked, the Lord will also get hurt." Smith explained with sadistic helpfulness.

"It can't be..." Arika repeated denials only increased as she grasped the full horror of the situation.

"Mashiro-chan..." A youthful voice called out playfully from above them. Erstin straightened, shielding her eyes against the sun as she searched for the new entrant. After a second, she spotted him on the roof of a building behind them. His diminutive stature and distinctive black and red garb marked him unmistakably: Grand Duke Nagi. "All you have to do is come over to my side and no one will need to fight." Nagi observed mockingly, thinly veiled malice coating his childlike voice. He continued to taunt to Mashiro, but Erstin barely even realized he was talking, much less processed the words. Her eyes were drawn to the figure standing next to Nagi. There stood the mulberry haired girl who consumed her thoughts and haunted her dreams.

Nina's eyes were wide with shock, and her expression was a vice around Erstin's heart. "Ers... you..."

She felt her world crumbling around her. Whatever Erstin's misgivings were about Arika finding out, it was many times worse that Nina had discovered her secret. Her heart pounded in her chest painfully. She tried to keep her gaze locked with Nina's, to let her eyes carry the apology that she wasn't able to voice, but Nina's horrified stare pierced her to the core. Erstin felt bile rise in her throat, and she narrowed her eyes to sorrowful slits and cast her eyes downwards in shame.

The droning whisper of the shrouded figures from her youth sounded in her head unbidden. _This is the price that you pay. You knew the day would come when you would give your life for the cause, and yet you let yourself grow close to the enemy anyway._ It was a voice of reason, but reason wasn't what she wanted to hear right now. She clamped her hands on her ears futilely. _Your sacrifice is necessary. You've known this for as long as you have lived, and you have been prepared. Your death will fuel the birth of a greater world. Would you be so selfish as to deny that destiny? _She shook her head in anguish, uselessly trying to banish the whispered justification. If that was true, why had all of her determination vanished? Why did this feel so wrong?

When she looked back up, Arika was waving her arms, yelling to her purple haired Master. "You can't, Mashiro-chan! Even though I don't understand all this complicated stuff, what he's doing is wrong!" Mashiro nodded with a bitterly determined face, much to Nagi's chagrin.

"Well then..." The archduke smiled wickedly. "I guess there's no helping it." He called out his accomplices name in a singsong voice. "Smith!"

John Smith, the personification of the authority of Swartz and God Himself, barked an order at her. "Do it, Erstin!"

The command ripped through her mind like a jagged bolt of lightning, and instincts honed by years of secret training activated. Her eyes flared wide, and as her mental barriers opened, the Slave fed off all of her despair and frustration, honing the negative energy into a slamming impact against Arika. Her roommate screamed and soared through the air, skidding across the school's yard and tearing up a large tract of lawn as she landed.

"I'm sorry, Arika-chan." An apology was a weak recompense for an assault on a supposed friend, but it was the best Erstin could manage. The Slave's thoughts were intermingled with her own, the horrifying anguish of its existence feeding her own terror, amplifying them both until she could barely keep her own sanity. The construct of gold and steel projected its thoughts into her mind more forcefully, filling her consciousness with an infectious red cloud of hate. She rapidly felt herself losing herself.

"Erstin!" Smith reprimanded pitilessly. "That sort of attack wouldn't destroy an Otome."

"I'm sorry." She felt the wind behind her, sending her Coral Robe aflutter. "I'm so... sorry!" She knew, to the depths of her being, that she didn't want this to happen. But just as strongly, she knew she was powerless to stop it, just like she always had been. She felt all her strength siphoning off, empowering the Slave. It reared up, preparing a final blow against the prostrate Arika.

"Arika!" Sergey yelled, dashing towards her.

"Father!" Nina gasped, watching the inevitable collision.

Sergey blocked the impact with his body, rolling with the movement of the attack, miraculously suffering only a ripped shirt and what would probably turn into a hefty bruise on his midsection. The Slave, its attack foiled, tried to turn and make another attempt, but Erstin regained control of their bond and forced it to stand its ground, desperately hoping against hope that she wouldn't have to do this.

A collective silence reigned. All eyes were drawn to an embroidered swatch of cloth, gently drifting to the ground. Arika was the first to speak, her voice touched by a confused tremor. "You..." Her voice wobbled with uncertainty. "You were my sponsor?"

Erstin's mind reeled as she realized the implications. She had silently watched her two roommates grapple with their own emotions about Sergey in a twisted love triangle that Erstin ironically understood better than any of those actually involved. She had selfishly supported Arika's crush, quietly giving her encouragement, letting herself dream that Nina would give up on Sergey if he fell in love with Rena's daughter. But Erstin also understood the depths of Nina's obsession with her foster father. Even in her darkest fantasies, she would have wanted Major Wong to turn Nina down with a gentle smile... not like this.

"Father... don't tell me that you..." Nina trailed off, the sentence unfinished. Her betrayed horror begged for an answer from Major Wong. His only response was to grit his teeth and cast his gaze aside, must to Nina's further dismay. Erstin's heart ached in sympathy, watched their interaction with increasing dread.

Sergey tore his gaze away from the ground, turning to his sovereign lord. "Please... stop this, Highness. This girl here..." He indicated Arika. "... is the true Princess of Windbloom!"

"Eh? Didn't you say you didn't find her?" Nagi drawled sarcastically, his voice distinctly lacking surprise. "Could it be that... you betrayed me?"

Sergey's face fell, his final card played and failed. "That's..."

"So... that's why you protected that girl." Nagi confirmed, smirking while he glanced at Nina expectantly.

Erstin hadn't been paying attention to what was being said. Instead, she had been watching Nina's reaction, taking what were surely the the last moments of her life to contemplate. She had always enjoyed watching Nina from afar. They were in the same classes, took the same trips, ate the same meals, and even slept in the same room. But Nina never truly looked at her, not even once; Nina had eyes only for Sergey. Even though that knowledge hurt, Erstin found it more comforting than painful. Knowing it was hopeless, she could leave dreams as dreams, and enjoy watching Nina from afar without worrying about anything complicated. As her doubts grew, it was Nina who unknowingly gave her the strength to carry on. But now, that strength had turned into a visage that was terrifying to behold. Nina's face was a mask of pure rage, so angry that when Nagi began to bond her as his Otome, Nina could only nodded a curt acceptance while grinding her teeth in fury. And as Erstin watched the perfect obsidian gems glisten as the contract was officially completed and sealed their fate, she realized that she had cried all of the tears she could cry.

Nina glowed with green power, an ethereal silhouette merging with her form, materializing her Meister Robe. She hopped down off the roof, lapsing in her ire long enough to turn tearful eyes on Sergey. "You're really unfair... Father. You told me to come here for the sake of become Archduke Nagi's Otome, and yet..." But there was nothing more to be said. Her eyes turned to the hand sewn gift Arika had made for her sponsor, still resting behind Sergey's leg where it fell. It was a cruel reminder, and her eyes bored into Arika. "If you weren't... if you never existed..." Her final veiner of calm shattered as she readied her sai, charging headlong at Arika with a primal yell.

Her own misery and doom not withstanding, Erstin was now watching her two best friends try to murder each other, all for the sake of a man who could never love either of them back. Something inside Erstin snapped, burying her weakness and fear. She was going to die today, but when faced with the dread of the past few days and the misery of the moment, death didn't seem quite so scary anymore. If there were some causes worth dying for, her friends were the best cause she could think of.

She sent a piercing command through the bond to the Slave, dominating it into unwilling motion. It screamed protest in her mind, the very sound of its voice driving her to the brink of her sanity. She persevered, driving it forward with her thoughts, sending it between the impending blows. She drew in a deep breath, yelling in a voice torn from the depths of her heart. "Nina-chan!"

Though the moment of impact was imminent, Nina's eyes betrayed a flicker of movement through her jealous bloodrage. She could see Erstin waving her arms, begging her not to go through with the attack. Nina turned back, noticing through her narrowed vision the Slave screaming through the air to intercept her attack. Nina's feet stumbled, reigning in her attack at the final second. Her sai landing glancing blows against the arm and head of the Slave.

Though the damage wasn't instantly fatal, the Meister weapons did significant damage to the Slave's frame. The cleaving strikes had sent shattered fragments in arcing sprays away from the weapon's swing, Erstin noted, observing the damage in the small window she had before...

_Wham. _Agony struck her like a wall, sending lightning pain across her face and down one side of her body. Her strength was sapped, and she collapsed into the grass like a puppet with cut strings. She screamed a hoarse scream before it was cut off into a choked whimper as her throat constricted painfully. Arika called her name in panicked concern, sprinting across the narrow field to come to her side. Erstin's Slave, still functional, took a weak swing at the pink-clad girl before collapsing into a shuddering, barely functional heap.

Erstin tried to speak at the terror stricken face that loomed over her fallen body, but all she could manage was short, wheezing gasps as she struggled to fill her lungs. She tried to smile for Arika, but the pain was too great, and she could barely manage a grimace. _'It's alright, Arika-chan.' _she wanted to say, to comfort the tears that ran down Arika's cheeks like rivers. _'You're safe now, and Nina didn't do something I know she would regret for the rest of her life. I've always known my life would end like this... and now I can die happily, knowing I protected you and Nina. So please... don't be sad.'_

But she couldn't voice the words, and Arika's face darkened, her brow furrowing and her teeth clenching in fury. Erstin tried to grab ahold of her, to keep her close and prevent the two from their inevitable clash. But even her body had failed her, and Arika rose with a slow determination; a horrifying, deadly resolve overwhelming all other emotions. Nina spared Erstin a confused, sorrowful glance, but when faced with an enraged Arika, took to the sky.

The girls spun in graceful pirouettes, summoning the Elements that would be their annihilation. When they clashed, a catastrophic ball of white light radiated outwards, consuming the grounds. And as the light reached her, Erstin finally found her voice.

She screamed as her world burned.

But she remained alive to feel the pain.

Author's Note:

What, you were expecting fluff?

Watching that scene over and over again as I contemplated what Erstin was thinking through each moment was almost hard. You'd think after watching her go all green sparkley for the fiftieth time, it wouldn't be sad anymore, but it was almost worse. I've already got the next chapter planned, and its a lot happier. However, I'm entering into finals at college, and the chapter has a lot of complicated dialog for me to get exactly right, so no promises on an update schedule. Just ask anyone who is still waiting for the next chapter of Shades of Gray, I write at a snails pace.

Speaking of which, I have not abandoned Shades of Gray, I'm just in a hiatus from it. I have a daunting amount of material planned for it, but I'm having a lot of trouble getting the wording correct. Expect three or four more full length chapters to finish up the first novella (depending on how I break them up), plus two interlude chapters that cover secondary characters and resolve some plot threads that don't fit into the primary story, and plus I have planned the first three chapters from a second novella that takes place after a four year gap. Dare I say... look forward to it? It's coming... just... slowly.

Thanks to all the kind (and not so kind) emails telling me I'm a butt for not updating faster. Believe it or not, I get my best writing done when I get an email that inspires me to forsake all my other responsibilities in life and sit down to slam out a chapter. So don't be afraid to comment or email, even if its just a few words.

And as always, thanks for reading.


	2. Solar Dawn

Erstin woke in agony. Every limb, every muscle, every fiber of her being hurt. It was the sensation that one gets from pinched bloodflow resuming after a limb is sat upon wrong for too long, only magnified and over every inch of her body. She nearly passed out again, but through a haze of pain, somehow she willed herself to stay out of the abyss of unconsciousness. There were dreams there... terrible dreams of purple crystals, betrayal and pain. She gasped in breaths of air, and even just drawing breath was an effort.

She inched her arms up, clasping them across her chest and rocking back and forth, her eyes clenched in narrow slits. Specific memories eluded her, but the general emotion of the recent past was still poignantly there. The pain was a punishment, and it was deserved, that much she knew. She forced down the sadness welling insider her that she couldn't even understand.

_Why am I alive? _It was a strange question without context, but she couldn't shake the feeling that she had survived something she hadn't been expecting to. She felt as though even now, shew as watching someone else's life, and that soon it would fade to dust. Through the ringing pain, she tried to sort her thoughts out well enough to get her bearings.

Her vision was blurry from crying, but the room was unmistakable. She was inside a guest suite of Windbloom castle, with overstuffed bookshelves lining the walls and azure curtains partially draping over a triple paned window. Weak sunlight leaked around the edges of the curtains, though whether the sun was rising or setting she could not say.

She heard the door to her room open, and she turned sharply, though it made her vision swim dangerously. "Nina-chan!" she gasped happily. But the figure that walked through the door was not Nina. "Yukariko-sensei..." she corrected slowly. "Why are you..."

In disturbing counterpoint to her usual unshakable cheer, Yukariko's wore the sternest face Erstin had ever seen her show. She and a pair of Windbloom soldiers filed into the room, followed by Miss Maria, who looked her usual strict self. Yukariko knelt next to the bed, giving her a shot from an injection tube. "This will bring your nanomachines up to full power, and help with the healing process."

Erstin felt a tingling wave spread through her body, followed by blessed numbness as the nanomachines shut down her nerves and began to heal her. She tried to form the words to thank her teacher, but her mind was still all jumbled, and Yukariko didn't look like she was mood to be thanked anyway.

One of the helmeted men moved to grab Yukariko by the shoulder. "Alright, let's go."

Miss Maria intercepted his hand in a vice grip and twisted it painfully, her aged face lined with anger. "Don't touch her. Just because you men line the corridors of Garderobe doesn't mean you have the right to do as you please to a noble and pure Otome.

The soldier who's arm was held winced and leaned into her hold, trying to ease the pressure of how his arm was twisted. "But... our orders were too..."

"Your orders were to allow us to heal one of our students, and that's what we plan to do." The older woman retorted succinctly, letting the man's arm go. The two men glanced at each other, each looking to the other for support, but it was hard to face down such fervor. Miss Maria didn't give them a chance, continuing with her tirade. "How dare you try and stop us from ensuring the safety of a student. Grand Duke Nagi assured us that we would be treated well, and if he hears of this..."

Yukariko turned back to Erstin, talking in low urgent tones over Maria's continuing distraction. "That was a very foolish thing you did, Erstin." She made small motions of checking Erstin's pulse and temperature. "I do not know what they told you, but bonding with a Slave is a wretched thing to do to yourself. Perhaps one in four will survive after the Slave is released, assuming they aren't killed in battle. And those that live? They often have irreparable damage to their body... and soul."

Erstin's pain was numbed, but her thoughts were still in disarray. _Slaves? Irreparable damage?_

Her teacher spoke on, heedless of her mystified expression. "The fact that you are still alive is a miracle... and not one granted to you by the cold God that Swartz worships. You may have turned your back on Shinso-sama, but She is forgiving. Even as you allied with those who try even now to end her, the Shinso-sama has granted you a new life, Erstin Ho." Her stern expression broke as she traced the back of her fingers down Erstin's cheek, a welling of sadness on her face. "I can only hope that you make better use of this one than the last."

The soldiers had rallied their courage, and pushed Miss Maria out of their way, pulling Yukariko up forcefully. "I'm sorry, Steinberg-san, but our orders are to let you deliver the medicine and then escort you out. They were very clear you can't speak with this one."

Erstin watched the two women being pulled away. She tried to call out in thanks to them, but she felt her eyes growing heavy. _The nanomachines must be draining me._ She had enough time to hope her sleep would be dreamless before the darkness reclaimed her.

-----

The first thing she saw as she slowly opened her eyes was a figure in a Coral uniform with pair of mulberry pigtails walking out of the room. A burst of adrenaline shot through her system, and she called out. "Nina-chan!" At least thats what she tried to say, but instead, she only manged to croak something unintelligible in a voice thick with sleep.

None the less, it had the intended effect, and Nina turned, her face lit with concern. "Ers?"

Erstin cleared her throat, trying to get her thoughts in order. "Nina-chan..." she repeated, more successfully this time.

Nina hung in the doorway in a half turn for a moment, then finished the turn and walked back into the room. "I just came to bring you food." She made a pained smile, and indicated a plate on the nightstand filled with fruit and cheese. "They said you would be sleeping for a while longer, but..." she trailed off.

The blond haired girl struggled to rise. The pain was gone, though she was still mostly numb. A quick glance down revealed her to be nude under the blanket, so she drew it up with her, making sure it still provided a measure of modesty as she sat upright in bed. Most of what had happened had returned to her now, but she wasn't sure where to begin. "Sit with me." she asked quietly.

Nina hesitated, swallowing uncomfortably. "I... I have things that I need to..."

"Please? Just... sit with me."

"Al... alright." Nina tentatively sat on the side of the bed, positioned to show mostly her back to Erstin's view.

Erstin could feel the tension in the air, and she knew that things would never be the same between them. She desperately wanted to know what had happened; whether the tragedy she had tried to stop had continued to unfold while she slept. Nina was exceptionally good at keeping her feelings bottled up, so her countenance was of no help. The only thing Erstin could read in the rigid back of her roommate was the fact that something was causing her intense emotional discomfort. Erstin pushed away her dread, hoping for the best. "I... I hope you didn't get hurt."

"Nothing that didn't heal quickly." Nina's voice was flat and dead.

"Major Wong... he's doing well too?"

"Father..." Her voice caught slightly on the name. "Father is not in any danger. He's still asleep, but the doctors say he'll be fine."

Erstin waited to draw in two deep breaths before asking her next question, preparing herself for what the answer might be. "And Arika-chan?"

"We fought... but... inconclusively." Nina shook her head slowly. "I can't be sure, but I don't think she was hurt any worse than I. She escaped, and no one can find her or Queen Mashiro."

"Oh." Erstin said quietly, concealing a sigh of relief. When the pair had materialized their weapons, she could read their murderous intent in their eyes, and had feared for the worst. Mostly it had sounded as if everything had come out for the best, or at least as best it could, considering the circumstances. But if all of that was true, why was Nina so unhappy? She looked over Nina's rigid posture for clues. The girl across from her was trembling, and for a moment Erstin mistook it for anger. Fear raced through her heart. "Ni... Nina-chan?"

Nina turned so that Erstin could see her face for the first time since she sat, turning just enough to shoot a sorrowful glance at Erstin through teary eyes. "How can you sit there and look at me so calmly?" she challenged vehemently. "After everything that..." She raised a hand up to her face, watching it tremble uncontrollably for a time before finally reaching up and grabbing it and holding it still with a grimace. "I... I nearly killed you, Erstin." She threw her hands down in disgust. "I saw you trying to stop me. I knew what you were trying to do. And I still swung." She shook her head slowly. "I don't know what would have happened if..." she trailed off and sniffed violently, rubbing a sleeve across her eyes and blinking rapidly. "No, that's not true. I do know. If I had killed you... I think I would have become a monster."

Erstin watched her counterpart hide her face again, shoulders slumped in misery and self loathing. The blond worked her mouth silently for a moment; she knew she should say something comforting, but nothing came to mind. There were a hundred justifications, a thousand apologies, a million missed chances, but none of them seemed appropriate. Erstin raised her hand slowly, her fingers outstretched towards Nina's back, only the barest of inches and a lifetime of timidity left to overcome.

And suddenly, it didn't matter anymore... none of the fear, none of the self doubt, and none of her worries for the future. Death had come to claim her once, and only then had she realized how much she had left to do. Nina needed her now... and that was all that mattered.

Erstin moved forward, drawing the blankets with her, clasping her arms in a gentle embrace around Nina in a reverse hug. The other girl jerked in surprise, letting out an uncharacteristic noise of surprise, but didn't react other than that. Erstin rested her chin on the velvety shoulder of the Coral uniform, breathing the scent of Nina's hair, feeling the loose strands brush across her cheek. At some point in the last minute or so the nanomachines had finished their work and they were beginning to allow her nerves to reactivate. Now the rough texture of the covers rubbing against her otherwise bear chest sent pleasurable tingles down her spine. She exalted in the sensation; exalting in being alive.

Nina shifted in confusion, sending further sparks through her. "Ers? What are you..."

"Don't blame yourself, Nina-chan." Erstin breathed quietly. "I knew what I was doing when I ran in between you two. I just couldn't bear to see you two hurt. Truly, there is nothing to forgive, but if there was, I would forgive it a hundred times over."

Nina sat in brooding silence, slowly absorbing that. "But..."

"No buts." Erstin interrupted, her voice gentle. "Let's just forget, okay?"

Forgiveness was not one of Nina's strong points, especially when it came to her own failings. But for Erstin, she would try. "All... alright. If that's what you want."

Erstin felt her heart beat faster. "It is." she spoke with confidence.

They sat like that for a long while, and Erstin luxuriated in Nina's presence. But as time wore on, she could feel Nina's self consciousness growing, becoming more uncomfortable at their proximity. Erstin regretfully flopped back on the bed, drawing the covers up to her chin and smiling timidly.

"So much has changed..." Nina said, breaking the silence and looking at Erstin.

"Yes." Erstin agreed, hiding her smile under the blankets. Nina looked so cute right now... with all of her false bravado and sternness ripped away, leaving only the inner core of the girl she loved. "But we can change to. It's a new beginning for both of us."

Nina stared at her, but then broke into a matching smile. "I like the sound of that. Not an end, but new beginning."

The blond girl reached out from under her blankets, clasping both of her hands around Nina's. The mulberry haired girl's hand was cold, but it warmed quickly in Erstin's grasp. "We'll start over together."

"Together." Nina agreed.


End file.
